Good news: Noida’s Aqua Line gets go ahead from NMRC, seeks inauguration date from govt

A final and mandatory safety inspection report has given the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) the approval to launch commercial operations of the Aqua Line, officials said Friday.

With the approval, the NMRC has now written to the Uttar Pradesh government to finalise the date of inauguration of the much-awaited Aqua Line that would run between Sector 71 station in Noida and the Depot Station in Greater Noida, covering 29.7 km through 21 stations.

“The Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) report has been received and it has its sanction for the commercial operations of the metro service. The report also praised the civil and track work of the metro system, NMRC Executive Director P D Upadhyay said.

NMRC’s managing director has written to the state government for finalizing the date of inauguration, said Upadhyay, who was in Lucknow Friday, handed over a letter to Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey.

He also said the fares of the Aqua Line would be decided in the NMRC Board meeting scheduled on December 28.

“Chairman Sanjay K Murthy, the additional secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will chair the meeting, he added.

Earlier, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) approved the second phase of the Metro link from Noida Sector 71 to Knowledge Park 5 in Greater Noida.

The extension will comprise nine stations and with a project cost of cost Rs 2,602 crores.

This decision was taken at the Authority’s 113th board meeting. “NMRC would be the nodal agency for the project. The first phase of the Metro project comprising five stations from Noida Sector 71 to Greater Noida Sector 2 is expected to cost around Rs 1521 crore, officials said.

The extended line of Noida Metro’s aqua line will have a total of nine metro stations out of which two will be in Noida and seven will be in Greater Noida. The metro stations in Noida include sectors 122 and 123 and the metro stations in Greater Noida include sector 4, Ecotech 12, sectors 2, 3, 10, 12 and Knowledge Park V.

Akhilesh Yadav earlier had given its approval for construction of a 15-km Metro project.

“We have asked builders to contribute fund and generate ideas to lure investment and buyers,” said a senior official of UP government.

“We are adhering to the direction of the government. This project will change the fortune of this belt. We have decided to plan stress-free homes where we will offer facilities for all family members,” said Rahul Gupta, Director of Ace group.

“We believe that this project is crucial as it will benefit thousands of homebuyers who have shifted to the newly built apartment complexes in Greater Noida West and nearby Crossings Republik in Ghaziabad that has 36,000 housing units,” said Geetambar Anand, CMD, ATS.

Greater Noida West has around 3.5 lakh under-construction housing units of which around 40,000 are occupied.